Paris - one lens to rule them all ?

[Rob-F]

Lived in paris for a year in the early 80's and usually try to get back at least every other year for a couple of days or weeks. It is probably the most "over exposed" city, photographically speaking - and you have to look for the details to make it interesting. It is also a "hard" city - you walk, and walk and walk some more. The trick is to keep the equipment light, preferably one camera - one lens - and simply shoot within the scope of that lens. The 35 works well, but can be a bit long, a 28mm is better, at least for me, It is also a city that is "black and white" - could be because so much of the Paris images are - and also because the city is a bit grey. Good shoes are paramount, extra film essential and frequent stops for coffee will make a visit palatable.

I agree, if I were to use only one lens in Paris, it would be my 28mm. And I agree about Paris (and many other French cities) being great candidates for black and white! Although that did not stop me from shooting lots of color as well!

 

[bigeye]

The jury is in

...The weather was good one day and misty/cold most of the rest...

Ah yes, same as it was in July.

 

[Vics]

Ah yes, same as it was in July.

LOL. I went in July back in 2000, just to experience Bastille day. I experienced it under an umbrella, swaddled in sweaters and coats! That was Chalon-sur-Saone, though. We soaked a week in Paris at the end though.

 

[judsonzhao]

get ff dslr, then buy yourself a 28-300, mission completed : )

 

[Godfrey]

follow-up

The more time I spend with the Leica X, the more I find that a single camera and a 35 to 40 mm lens is my "one lens to rule them all." Using wider (or longer than 50mm) is a relatively rare thing for my druthers of late. Despite having the Color Skopar 35 and Nokton 40, I am so tempted now to obtain a 35 'Lux for the M9 and reduce my camera kit to just the M9 + Nokton 50 + Summilux 35, and the X for when I truly want only the one camera.

No, I won't quite do that. But I will cut down on the excess equipment in the cabinet ... There's simply too much in there of late.

G

 

[Trius]

Old thread .. Looks like I am going in late April/early May. My kit as currently planned:

X-Pro1 w/ 18-55 and OM adapter with one or more of 21/2, 28/2.8, 35/28
Olympus 35SP w/ APX 100 and a couple of rolls of TMY-2

The other option is to take an OM body instead of the 35SP.

My son lives in the 3rd, so lodging is set. My "girlfriend" is a retired French teacher who knows Paris inside-out, so my itinerary is set.

 

[marcr1230]

if you take the OM lenses - may as well take a matching body

 

[Leica0Series]

I have taken many photo trips to Paris, usually with one camera and two lenses at most ... but on one trip I took only my Leica 0-Series (and an iPhone, of course).

A Boy and His Dog by Brett Davis, on Flickr

 

[k__43]

I went to Paris for business the last time and didn't had much time there. I had only a few hours for myself.
I took the M2 and a 28/2.8 (plus finder) and a Rolleiflex.
Perfect combo for the occasion. I find reduction of gear always better, makes you stop overthinking things all the time.

 

[Rayt]

I really love the gardens, parks and courtyards in Paris so a 28mm or 24mm would be perfect.

 

[DominikDUK]

Paris has it all wide Boulevards, tight little medieval streets, modern architecture, Gargoyles etc... and everybody and his mother seems to prefer wide lenses (that also seems to be the reason that most Paris shots look the same), where many subjects would be better of being shot using a long lens. Paris is a two focal length city a wider lens say focal length between 15mm and 28mm and longer lens for all the small details and for compression of the perspective say in the 75 to 135mm range. If it absolutely must be one lens the 50mm wins imo.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I brought a 50 back in 2000, but there were times I wished I had my 28 and 85. But it really didn't matter because I just LOVE being in Paris, with whatever camera I have. Such an overwhelming experience to take in.

 

[Trius]

if you take the OM lenses - may as well take a matching body

I'm leaning more that way ... I would be taking the 21/2 and 28/2.8, and maybe one more ... 35/28 or 50/1.4?

Overall I will travel light - I'm starting to evaluate how little I can take - clothing, toiletries, etc. Necessary toiletries can be bought in the neighbourhood. If I can wash clothes, even by hand, at my son's apartment, then I have less to carry and more room to bring back wine and other goodies.

I am now exploring how to post/blog while there. As light as my MacBook Air is, I don't want to take it, I'd rather just use my iPhone when I'm out, and my son's computer and ISP when I'm at his apartment. The only issue is getting JPGs from the X-Pro to the iPhone for sending ad hoc to friends and family, since the Apple camera kit only works with the iPad. I'll probably try a 3rd party piece of hardware before I leave and see if it actually works.

 

[Vics]

Best photo-walking city I've ever visited! When I go, I take one camera with a 50mm or its equivalent.

 

[marcr1230]

the OM lenses are pretty close to each other and overlap with the 18-55

I'd go with 21 and 50 only or the 28 and 50 depending how you shoot

I got smart the last vacation and made a list of everything I used from what I packed and you
Can get by on little especially if you can do a laundry load there

 

[Trius]

the OM lenses are pretty close to each other and overlap with the 18-55 I'd go with 21 and 50 only or the 28 and 50 depending how you shoot I got smart the last vacation and made a list of everything I used from what I packed and you Can get by on little especially if you can do a laundry load there

Yes, there is overlap so I will have to think it through some more. I have a feeling that the 28 would not be quite wide enough for some situations, so more likely I'll take the 21.

 

[Oscuro]

I'm leaning more that way ... I would be taking the 21/2 and 28/2.8, and maybe one more ... 35/28 or 50/1.4? Overall I will travel light - I'm starting to evaluate how little I can take - clothing, toiletries, etc. Necessary toiletries can be bought in the neighbourhood. If I can wash clothes, even by hand, at my son's apartment, then I have less to carry and more room to bring back wine and other goodies. I am now exploring how to post/blog while there. As light as my MacBook Air is, I don't want to take it, I'd rather just use my iPhone when I'm out, and my son's computer and ISP when I'm at his apartment. The only issue is getting JPGs from the X-Pro to the iPhone for sending ad hoc to friends and family, since the Apple camera kit only works with the iPad. I'll probably try a 3rd party piece of hardware before I leave and see if it actually works.

Trius, seriously consider the eye-fi mobi cards. Wifi your Jpgs to the phone... Easy as pie.
Hubby and I swear by them.

Mme. O.

 

[Trius]

Trius, seriously consider the eye-fi mobi cards. Wifi your Jpgs to the phone... Easy as pie. Hubby and I swear by them. Mme. O.

I had written off the Mobi cards since I had read a few negative reviews -- not that they didn't work at all, but that they were sort of "kludgy". Maybe I should reconsider.

Is there a way to turn the radio off when you at not transferring files?

- Earl

 

[Oscuro]

I had written off the Mobi cards since I had read a few negative reviews -- not that they didn't work at all, but that they were sort of "kludgy". Maybe I should reconsider. Is there a way to turn the radio off when you at not transferring files? - Earl

We have only had bad experiences with them (orange mobi cards) when we selectively delete in-camera and then only with the Fuji (man-thing has a x100s and D700, I shoot D3 and old X100).

Occasionally if you do deletes in-camera you will get a card error msg. I've forced this error on Lexar and Secure Digital cards as well so we think it's not a eye-fi issue.

I haven't had any issues with the new CF to SD adapter eye-fi sells and which I use in the D3. It allows me to use an eye-fi card in a CF slot. The transfer is smooth. (We are both jpg shooters, although I have the RAW on the second card in the D3 - on the X100 I don't bother.

I only use the direct wifi camera to phone (or iPad) mode. On the iPhone you can set it up to copy all intake to the camera roll. This is nice because then the images live in two places - the eye-fi app and the camera roll. Admittedly this isn't true back-up - it's all on the same device - but if you delete your camera roll, the images are still in the eye-fi app's memory.

Similarly you can delete them from the app and if you previously had them auto transfer to the camera roll, they'll still be there.

Worth a look.

Mme. O.


Edit. As to turning the wifi off, I'm not sure. I haven't found a soft-switch for that. It's a secure-ish connection, though. Password and all that.

 

[Oscuro]

Oh, and I should add, even with a card error message we were still able to download, shoot, etc. just could not playback on-camera. As long as you don't delete in-camera everything runs very smoothly.